No Longer in Progress
by A.I.Kemp
Summary: STORY DISCONTINUED! Sorry guys, I just don't have it in me to continue with this one. By the way...Keep your eyes peeled for the Chimera Chronicles Title. ; Something may be happening in a few years...
1. Prolouge

Okay up until chapter 11 of this story The Lost Triforce Shard was a single fanfic by me D.E.W. first written around a year and a half ago when I was 13 (So already you can imagine that the writing style was pretty bad) Now it is a Duo Fanfic by me and my sister Jaderill so the **_Prologue and first four chapters of this story are scheduled to be re-written! What you are reading now is the original which sucks. The revised edition should come out sometime in November! _**So there you have it If you are new to reading this which you probably are please bear through the junk chapters until you get to chapter five. Thank you for reading please review and enjoy!

_**Prologue**_

Hyrule's past is shrouded in mystery. Events that have shaped the land have often gone unnoticed or unrecorded. As a result the all the people of Hyrule know a very inaccurate history, except for the royal family of course. The ruling classes of Hyrule have often kept secrets about the land that they govern. One of these secrets rest in the Shiekah. Ask any person in Castle Town and they will tell you that the Shiekah are a dead race. However, they are not.

Saria wandered through the lost woods. Her Fairy danced around her head, her wings were fluttering as fast as a small humming bird's. She reached her destination and sat down on the stump next to the Forest Temple, her usual spot. She withdrew her Ocarina and began playing her favorite song. Everything was always so peaceful here. Yet that was soon to change………

"GET BACK HERE!"

Four horses were thundering across Hyrule Field. There hoof beats echoed through the land. Upon three of the horses were wicked looking men. They were garbed in pure black cloth with masks on each of their faces from the nose down and they had piercing blood red eyes. Their Stallions were also as black as the night.

The other horse had a fair Geurdo woman riding it. Her long red hair whipped back as she rode in a full gallop. Her yellow eyes glowed through the hood of her cloak. She had one hand holding on to the reigns of the horse another was carrying a small baby, wrapped in a tight bundle of linen cloth.

"SHOOT HER HORSE SHOOT IT!" shouted one of the men. Another one notched an arrow and let it fly. It was a lucky shot it pierced right through the horse's hind leg. It toppled and fell to the ground throwing the woman off the horse. She clutched on to the child and tucked into a ball to shield it from the impact. She stood up and ran. She knew it was ridiculous to even try but if she made to the wood she just might be able to get away.

She burst into to a frantic run to the sheltering woods, clutching the young child in her arms. Her lungs burned with each gasping breath that she took.

"Shoot her! don't let her get away!" the Man shouted again.

The other man notched an arrow again took aim and released. The arrow whizzed through the air and pierced the poor woman in shoulder. She let out a blood curdling scream of pain. A second arrow pierced her in the lung.

The woman dropped to her knees as pain ran throughout her body. She broke the wood of the arrow of and then rolled to her side into a patch of bushes. She searched frantically for a place to hide the precious young one. She crawled under the bracket she could hear the men dismounting and searching for her. One of them was shooting arrows off in random directions.

The woman found a large tree with huge roots curling up out of the ground. She laid the child under them. The bushes and roots would supply protection from animals and hide the child from the men. Her vision suddenly went blurred and her head swam with dizziness.

The woman gasped and uttered a single word, "poison!" Then she hit the ground stone cold and dead.

The men after searching for hours gave up the sun was setting and they would come back tomorrow to search.

Saria was running frantically through the woods. She had heard the woman's scream and was trying to find out the source of it. She came to a dead stop as she looked at a blood drenched hand that lay just outside of the bush. Was it a Kokiri's or someone else? She etched toward the bush and using a nearby twig brushed the leaves away to discover the body of the full grown Geurdo woman. She let out a horrid gasp and then she heard it. The poor baby's crying. She reached around the body and under the roots carefully taking the child out.

She held it tight, "Its okay shush. It's all over" she said. Then clutching to the baby she ran as fast as she could to the Great Deku Tree to tell him of the discovery.


	2. A Quest for Belonging

* * *

Hi Again Thanks For the Reviews Everyone! Once Again I don't own Zelda at all!

Hopefully, AncientDirgeDragon You'll Find out who the child was in the next two chapters but why the men were after it will still remain a mystery for some chapters.-

And I would like to thank chibikilana, Dez384, Huanir for the nice review.

The last chapter turned out not exactly the way I hoped it would hopefully though this one will turn out better.

…_**A Quest of Belonging…**_

"_Poison! ...Kill her! … Don't let her get away! ... Shoot the Horse! Shoot it!..."_

A young girl of eight shot up from her bed, sweat drenched her face and her breathing was heavy. Her red eyes darted about the room. Last night's nightmares shot through her head. She clutched her head and shook it to make them disappear, allowing her light brown hair to fall into her face. She leaned against her bed post and heaved a long sigh. The suns rays shone through the leaves of her tree home making little speckled patterns on her skin.

She slipped out of her bed to get ready for this new day ahead of her. After combing her hair and dressing into her Kokiri garb she stepped out of her house and climbed down the wooden ladder.

Saria and Isra, another Kokiri with long blond hair and cap like Link's, were there to greet her. She smiled at her two best friends and ran up to greet them.

"Hey guys!" She said.

"Hi Xin," Isra had replied.

"Hello Xinrie," Saria said only a moment after Isra. "I have great news the Great Deku Tree sent us to come and get you. He said it was urgent."

"Really what for?" asked the girl now known as Xinrie.

"Yea, he said that it's really important! For all I know he could tell you why you don't have a fairy like Link!" Isra announced in her cheerful, excited way.

Xinrie smiled a huge toothy smile. _I might actually fit in for once after this._ She thought "Then let's go!" She shouted while already twenty feet ahead of her.

"Woh… she runs pretty fast for such a little one." Isra said gaping in awe at the now tiny dot on the horizon.

Xinrie was running so fast that she didn't even notice Mido blocking her path.

"An' just where do ya think you're goin Pipsqueak?" He sneered at her.

"I'm goin' to see the Great Deku Tree! Now move you Ninny!"

"I don't think so, it's either you get a sword or you pay a hundred rupee fine. But, oops! Link took the last sword and oops! There isn't that much money in the forest. All well guess you won't be goin nowhere.

Xinrie looked at Mido her red eyes glaring at him. She then walked straight up to and said "Move It."

"No"

She looked at him smiled and then, quite cheerfully, decked him. This was not an uncommon occurrence between the two so she casually walked away, leaving an unconscious Mido lying flat on his back

Isra and Saria ran over Mido (despite Saria's protest that they should go back and help him.) leaving him with several boot marks on his green tunic. By the time Saria and Isra caught up with Xinrie she was already sitting cross legged before the Deku Tree.

"Did…..You….Kill….Mido?" Isra asked between gasping pants for air.

"No! I just decked him for the fifth time this year." She replied cheerfully.

"Oh…Darn"

At this all three of them broke out laughing waking the Great Deku Tree from his slumber.

"Oh dear me please forgive thou Xinrie for my sleeping. I was just so tired now down to business. First I'd like to thank thee Saria and Isra for getting her and since thee are best friends with her you may want to stay to hear what I have to say. Xinrie what I'm about to tell thee is very important. First you are not from this land, you're not a Kokiri….

Okay to be mean I'm going to leave you with a cliff hanger!

I also wanted to tell you the exact time this story takes place. It takes place after Ganon was defeated and after Link has gone to Termina and has found Navi again, He is currently thirteen. And Xinrie is five years younger than Link.


	3. A Forgotten Past Retold

Hey guys lots of reviews this time thanks!

I'd like to thank Dark Cross, blondie91, and AncientDirgeDragon for the wonderful reviews!

And to chibikilana I was kinda meaning for this part of the story to go fast because the upcoming parts are pretty long and if I made this part long the story will almost be a small novel. Instead of a fan fiction. But, I understand that because I did kinda rush it.

I don't own Zelda, God that's getting old.

This chapter probably won't ever turn out the way I want it to but I'll try to make it work.

If you have any suggestions for this chappie I'd like to know!

…**_.A Forgotten Past Retold…. _**

"This is the reason thou does not have a fairy. As a matter of fact thou art of half and half. In other words a Half bred. Saria was the one who found thee seven years ago in these very woods, hidden under the roots of an oak tree. A Geurdo woman lay beside you, dead. She had two arrow wounds in her back, they were not fatal though. The true cause of death was poison from a rare breed of desert snake called Rathnar.

"I was not present when this treacherous deed took place. I was able to get information on the matter because my knowledge of Hyrule extends beyond the forest. There was a great horse race of four horses three as black as the night and one as brown as the sweeping sands of the desert. Upon the black rode three wicked men each bearing a bow and sword and each garbed in pure black cloth. The brown horse carried the Geurdo woman garbed in a Geurdo's traveling clothes and cloak. And she bore you in her arms.

"They downed her steed with an arrow shot to the leg. She toppled off her horse, clutching you tight as she ran toward the woods for hope of protection against the murderous beings. They followed her and burrowed two arrows deep into her back with the poison dipped tips.

"The men dismounted their chargers and tore through the woods trying to find her. The woman knew that she had to hide thee so she placed you into the roots. But, by this time the poison was taking its toll and stole her soul from her body leaving her there dead. The men left at the site of the moon. They were to return on the morrow. Saria soon found thee and brought thee here where we have protected thee from harm.

"Only we can no longer do this. Xinrie I sense a great disturbance and I fear for you're life. You are no longer safe here and you must leave not only for your safety but also to uncover the rest of your past. I know that this may seem hard for one so young to understand but thou must try. To get to the point I need thou to leave this forest by evening. Look towards Geurdo Valley for answers. As a final thought I'd like thee to take this with you to remind you of this forest. Look in your house, for it should be waiting there. I hope thou shall return one day. Fair thee well."

At this the great Deku Tree became dormant once more. Xinrie sat there for a long time not saying anything. Her eyes seemed glazed over, "LEAVE! B…b…b….but I can't go! Hey! You wake your Bark butt back up I don't want to leave!" She screamed at the sudden realization.

Saria stood there staring at the ground. A_nother friend lost I don't want to lose her. I already lost Link...twice..._

"Xinrie I'm sorry but you have to go. Please do me this favor when it's safe please return for a visit. I already lost one friend that has never returned I don't want to lose you."

Xinrie sat for awhile, staring at her friend's deep blue eyes. They were so full of concern and sadness. It seemed like Saria had gone through this once before, though she had never mentioned anything like this before. Xinrie closed her eyes and summoned all the courage she had. "I promise I will. Will you guys help me out though?"

The two friends nodded in response. Slowly, the three of them stood up and walked back towards Xinrie's house with only the sound of the Deku Tree's leaves rustling in the wind to break the silence that seemed to have fallen over Kokiri Village.


	4. Departure

Hi again! I got some pretty good reviews this time. Only three though.

_Greki:_ Thanks! Also it's like I said. Those chapters were short because I was trying to get to this one. (Which should be pretty long)

_Dez384: _As to why Link never beat up Mido I have no idea. But, in my opinion I think he should have in the game!

And to _AncientDirgeDragon_ and _blondie91 Thank_ you for the great reviews. -

This Chapter should be a good one if I work on it hard enough. Sorry it's been Taking me so long to update but I'm afraid this next Chapter will take me to update though because I got alota things to do for the next four days. So please excuse the absence of updates.

As A Final note I would Like to thank my sister _Jaderill _for helping me sooo much with this chapter. (Read her stories too! There great!)

…_**Departure…**_

Xinrie lifted the cloth made door up and entered her house. It was a small house with a bed in the corner and a table in the center of the room. Off to the right was a dresser made of redwood and to the left was a storage area for food. Next to that was a trunk, a mirror and water bowl.

She looked about the place for what the Deku tree had supposedly left. She walked in further and saw it. On the table was a wooden box with beautiful gold trim and etched on the top was "_To Xinrie. Please use this only in emergencies and wear it at all times! May the forest spirits be with you!"_ She picked up the box and opened inside was a pendant that looked exactly like a leaf. It shone brightly and its pure jade surface reflected her crimson eyes, showing the tears that were welling inside them, but she pushed them back, no one had ever given her anything so beautiful before. She strung it around her neck then picked up the box and brought it over to the trunk in the corner of her room.

Xinrie emptied out its contents. A doll, some bowls, dishes, a backpack, and a couple of rags fell out. She picked back up the doll and the backpack and carried them over to her dresser. Isra and Saria came forward to help her. She took out all her green tunics and shorts, placing them neatly on in the trunk. Isra had run off to go get food for her from the Kokiri store. Saria was busying herself with collecting dishes and any useable items she could find. Within an hour everything Xinrie would need for her journey was packed.

Xinrie stood at the edge of the bridge leading out into Hyrule. She bit her lip looking down at her feet. "Well guys. I guess this is it." She said with a bit of an awkward smile.

At this Isra broke out into a sobbing cry and flung her arms around Xinrie. Saria just stood alone watching as Xinrie tried to comfort her.

"IAFERMEK GODIERNTHG TOF MIHSHH WOOOO!" (AN: translated I'm going to miss you) Isra sobbed. Then she took her hat off and shoved it onto Xinrie's head.

"Do you want me to keep this?" Xinrie asked with a funny smile.

"MFMMFM YEHHEHSSH!" (AN; Yes) Isra cried nodding her head slightly.

After another ten minutes of this she finally pulled away and Saria stepped forward.

"This was supposed to be for your birthday. But, seeing as your not going to be here….." She alleged handing her a wrapped box.

Xinrie took the box and unwrapped its plain, brown packaging. Beneath the simple covering was something that took her breath away. A wooden box with some of the most beautiful designs she had ever seen was carved into it. A lid was held together with silver lock that shone against its dark wooden surface. Xinrie stared at it, her fingers tracing the curves of the symbols. Slowly her hand reached for the lid of the box to lift it open. Her eyes widened in slight surprise.

"It's locked…"

Saria smiled slightly. "Remember that book that you tried to read? The one over at my house with the green binding?"

Xinrie thought back to the time that she had picked up the book. It had turned out to be fake. Inside of it was actually a small assortment of necklaces and keepsakes that Saria had decided to hide. She felt along the bottom of the box until she found a small slit in the wood. Turning it upside-down she found a piece of wood she could slide. Moving it aside, she discovered a tiny silver skeleton key. Xinrie removed it and turned the box the right way. She then inserted the key and turned it.

With a pop the lid opened and revealed a small, mechanical dark fairy kneeling inside. Its wings looked like cobwebs, clinging to the black and sticklike bones. Raven black hair reached down her back and scrapped along the wooden floor. Her dress was torn along the bottom and rose up from her ankles to just below her upper thigh in jagged strips. Her long sleeves mimicked her web like wings and went over her hands, hooking around her middle finger on each one. Her small bare feet were tucked delicately beneath her thin structure with a small black anklet with blood red jewels inserted into knots tied just above her left foot.

The fairy opened her eyes, revealing dark crimson orbs beneath the pale eyelids. Her hands began to move upward as music drifted from the dark box. It reached her ears and a steady wind began to blow about her. Xinrie stared, transfixed at the fairy as it danced about the box until she heard Isra stop her sniffling and let out a gasp. The small girl looked up to see the leaves picked off the branches of the tree and encircle her. When the music died away, the leaves slowly drifted to the forest ground and the fairy lowered to the floor of the box, her eyes closing once more.

Saria looked hopefully at Xinrie. Her brown haired friend looked up at her with tears brimming around the edges of her eyes, threatening to be released. "I hope you like it." Saria said, "It took a long time to find something like this and I-"

She was cut off by Xinrie's joy filled voice. "I love it!"

Saria sighed in relief, "That's good. I could only find one. It originally had blue eyes but I painted them red, just for you."

Xinrie's face reflected emotions that she had been hiding since the Deku Tree had told her of her true past. Sadness, pain, fear, hope; these were all things she had felt and been too stubborn to reveal to her two best friends until now. She placed the box in her bag and reached out to Saria and Isra, embracing them both in a long hug. She didn't want to let them go but knew in her heart that for her sake as well as theirs she would have to.


	5. Things Could'nt Get Any Worse

Hiyas again Okay yeah I know this update took way longer than I had even expected One reason is though because "Jaderill" wanted to write this chappie. She claims it gets rid of her writers block for her stories. The only thing I did was give her the plot.

There were a lot of reviews last chappie!

**Dez384: **Thanks for the review and the reason that Saria painted the eyes red was to allow Xinrie to feel as if though she belonged because she was the only Kokiri to have red eyes.

**Blondie91: ** Heh. That was Isra trying to say those words through her sobbing I tried to make it as messed up as I could and to try and make it sound funny. Thanks for the review too!

**AncientDirgeDragon: **Link and Zelda will make an appearance and become characters. That part is going to be funny especially how they meet her. But that's not going to happen for awhile. Thanks for the great review.

**Chibikilana: **Thanks! Completely understandable about the computer mine is like that a lot!

**E1pnvn: **Thanks for the review! Also I wanted to make a guess at what your pen name stood for is it Elven or Elphen?

On final note this chapter is supposed to bring out the humor in the story or be a comic relief one of those two. Also the chapters from this point on are going to be much longer. Yay! Enjoy!

…_**Things Couldn't Get Any Worse...**_

Xinrie took a deep breathe and with tightly closed eyes let her foot fall. She opened her eyes soon after it had made contact. Her first step out of the forest. _Great_, she thought, _one down, about another ten billion to go_. She continued walking this way, counting each step until she had lost her place. Looking about the path that she walked on, Xinrie could not help but smile. It wasn't so bad out here. She wasn't sure she had ever seen the sun so brightly. The trees had often blocked her view in one way or another.

With a smile spreading across her face, Xinrie allowed herself to skip for a few feet. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Saria had told her stories of what was beyond the bridge. She had said that a traveler had told her of a vast field that stretched for miles. Xinrie, having lived in a forest her entire life couldn't even imagine something so big and void of plant life. She figured that if there was little plant life then there was probably very little animal life as well.

_That probably means there isn't anything to harm me out there!_ Xinrie thought cheerfully. She had been quite worried about leaving the only home she had ever known without any protection. But now she was becoming more confident. She could do this! She would find a new home! And there would be a world of adventure awaiting her there! Nothing was going to stop her! Nothi-

"Whooo!"

Well, maybe something.

Xinrie stood frozen to the ground, her eyes wide and staring at what was perched on what looked like the last tree in the grove she had been walking through.

"Hello there-"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Xinrie tried to turn around and sprint in the opposite direction at the same time, resulting only in her feet becoming tangled and hitting the ground. She rolled over to look up at the giant owl that was staring down at her, a look of deep concern on his face.

"Are you alrig-" he began.

"Nuuuuuu! Please don't eat me!" she yelled while throwing her hands in front of her head.

"I'm not going to do any such thing, Xinrie," he replied, still looking immensely concerned and slightly hurt.

Xinrie gasped, her eyes growing even wider. "Demon Bird!"

"Wha-"

"You can see into my mind!" Xinrie yelled while pulling Isra's cap further down onto her head.

"No I can NOT!" The large owl exclaimed, somewhat taken aback by the comment.

"T-th-then how do you know my name!" Xinrie cried while pointing at him. She didn't know why but for as long as she could remember she had a deathly fear of owls. And giant talking ones didn't help.

"Calm down and let me explain. I am Kaebora Gaebora."

"_Gay_bora?"

"No! G-A-E-bora! I am a loyal servant of Hyrule's royal family, one who has served them my entire life and I was hoping that I might be of some use to you," he exclaimed.

Xinrie sat crossed legged on the ground. Now that she knew he wasn't planning on eating her, she was able to relax a bit. "Use? Well…I am thirsty…"

"Not that kind of use," He sighed, "I am here so that I may help you fulfill your destiny."

"What if you don't believe in destiny?"

"Whether you believe in it or not, everyone has a destiny."

"Says who?"

"Din, Nayrue, and Faeore. That's who."

"Oh…" Xinrie said looking at the ground.

"May I continue?" he asked, looking slightly annoyed.

"Yes sir…"

"Ahem…as I was saying, I'm here to guide you in your times of need. I would advise you to start heading northwest. You will reach Hyrule's market in about a days travel. You may find more clues about your past when you get there. I wish you the best of luck!" With those final words, he took off leaving a perplexed Xinrie behind.

"Oooookkkaaaayyyyy…. northwest hmm? Wouldn't hurt, I suppose. I mean maybe it's on the way to Geurdo Valley. Wait, maybe his nest of evil child-eating hatchlings are there! No! Stop that! Being paranoid again! Great, now I'm talking to myself…"

Xinrie sighed and continued on her way, the sun shining brightly on her shoulders. No more than a hundred feet from where she had met Kaebora Gaebora she found the field. Gasping slightly, she ran down the hill some. It was…beautiful. Lush green grass rolled on in vast waves for as far as she could see. Like an ocean it rose and then fell, concealing everything that lay beyond it in a veil of earth. The crisp azure sky stretched as far as the field meeting with the crest in a brilliant horizon.

Laughing with the pure glee only a child could have, the small crimson eyed girl sprinted into the field arms outstretched as if to catch the bouts of wind and take off into the endless sky. After absorbing every ounce of sunlight she could, Xinrie spun around in circles still smiling and joyfully laughing at the heavens, until she finally collapsed upon the ground, taking in deep breaths of the fresh air. The breeze blew her shoulder length brown hair about her face. "I love this place," she whispered to herself. Sitting up, she looked towards the sun that was already beginning to sink beyond the horizon. She didn't mind camping out, after all the stars must be beautiful out here. "I don't ever want to go home!"

But alas, that night…

"I wanna go home!" Xinrie half cried, half screamed as she clung to the top branches of the only tree she could locate. Stalchildren clawed at her from beneath, cackling every time they caught a piece of her tunic. She already had several deep cuts from the first one that had risen from the ground. It had taken her completely by surprise and nearly cost her her head.

More began to rise from the ground, swiping at her every time she slipped. "What is this! Night of the Dead or something!" she shouted again, "Who in Hyrule made you things!"

She was right to wonder that. The stalchildren that were attacking her had the body structure of a human skeleton but the head of what looked like a giant dog. Despite having no eyes, their empty sockets burned as though two hot coals had been shoved into them. Their clawed hands seemed to come some oversized six-toed cat.

The wind had picked up and was whipping the tree from one side to another. Xinrie increased her death grip on the branches for fear that she would fall off and be torn into numerous unidentifiable shreds. One of the monsters grabbed hold of her boot and began pulling her down. She could hear the branches begin to break away from the trunk.

_Great,_ she thought frantically, _now they're going to break every bone in my body! I can see it now! Here lies Xinrie: Survived by her friends and everyone. I'm dead._ Out of frustration that Mido would live longer than her and probably laugh at her pathetic and broken remains after she was found, and partly out of fear she started kicking wildly at the thing's head. Her booted foot connected with its boney face and sent its cranium flying towards another one of its twisted counterparts. Her eyes grew wide with hope. If she could only kick off all of their heads they wouldn't be able hurt her! Then the blasted thing walked over and picked up its own severed head and placed it back atop its neck.

"I'm gonna die!" she moaned. She did manage to climb out of the thing's reach however and once again cling to the bending branches for dear life. "Thing couldn't get any worse," she nearly cried again. Just then a loud crash of thunder and bolt of lighting broke the darkness of the night and clanking of bones. She looked up at the sky only to be hit in the face by a drop of water, one that was promptly followed by a downpour of billions of other freezing droplets. The stalchildren retreated for the ground that they had risen from; leaving a soaking wet and injured Xinrie still clinging to the tree.

Nearly an hour later, Xinrie found herself still trudging through the mud, her boots making sucking noises every time they found a particularly deep section of the sludgy mix of dirt and water. The rain was still coming down in icy torrents, soaking her to no end. She had torn her now muddy, wet and blood stained tunic in several strips so that she could bandage her three deep cuts which, after bleeding profusely for nearly fifteen minutes, had stopped. But now she had other problems to deal with. For instance, she had no idea which direction she was headed. She could have been headed back toward the Kokiri Forest for all she knew (which at this point didn't sound like a bad idea).

Her hair was clinging uncomfortably to her face and neck by this point and she was now regretting ever leaving without a ribbon to tie her hair back. _No one in their right mind is out here tonight! So why in Hyrule am _I she thought bitterly. It wasn't fair. Saria had never warned her about _this_. She had never heard warnings about the monsters that came out at night or about demon owls that pointed you in random directions that would only get you lost, confused and chased up a tree by skeleton things.

Then she spotted something in the distance. It was slight but definitely there. She ran towards it, her feet pounding against the squishy ground. Xinrie couldn't believe her sudden change in luck. It was a town! A big beautiful town that was beckoning her towards it. One with shelter and blankets and food! Its stone wall was made of white stone that stretched all the way around it with an unfamiliar symbol etched above the entrance. Beyond the walls she could see the silhouetted form of what looked like a tower. "A castle?" she asked aloud.

Xinrie laughed in exhaustion and excitement. If Hylians had their towns set up anything like the Kokiris did then that's where the market would be. In Kokiri Village the shop was just outside the entrance to the Great Deku Tree. To her, the Deku Tree was like the castle. Straightening herself up, she took a step towards the entrance.

And stopped dead in her tracks.

The drawbridge had been closed. "WHAT IN HYRULE DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS!" she screamed at the sky while shaking a fist, "IS THIS BECAUSE I HIT MIDO! HUH? WHY? WHY? WHHHYYYYYY?" At this last word she sank to her knees, her pants now becoming completely covered in mud. "Why Din? Why me?"

She looked at the clouded sky that had been such a brilliant blue earlier that day but was now pure ebony with massive storm clouds. The thing she had laughed at for hours but now found herself cursing to no end. "Things couldn't get any worse."

Just as these cursed words had parted from her lips the sky opened up in a downpour twice as fierce as the one that had been plaguing her for the past five hours. "Now why did I have to say that?" she asked pathetically. "No, better question: Why did I have leave my house _today_?"

Xinrie shivered, suddenly realizing how cold she was. Then a sudden sound caught her attention. One she recognized from the forest. It was far away but she would never forget the first time she had heard. It was a lonely but frightening noise, hollow of welcome but mournful at the same time. A low, smooth noise that chilled her even more. The howl of a wolfo.

Looking worriedly from side to side Xinrie looked for a place to hide. She could tell the howl was far away and that it was raining such a ridicules amount that it couldn't smell her scent, but nonetheless you could never tell how fast one of those things could move…

Spotting a stone jut just below the normal ground level but just above the level of the river that ran past the town wall. Xinrie scuttled along the ground and dropped onto the jutting stones. It wasn't very wide but it was long. Huddling herself into a corner, she grabbed hold to her knees. She gazed at the drawbridge once more and sighed. With a good six hours until dawn, the possibility of a wolfo attack and what seemed to be an ocean crashing down on her, Xinrie knew that things couldn't get any worse


	6. Hyrule Market Town

Don't Hurt me! Yes I know the update took awhile and this next update will take another long time. You have to excuse me; my schedule has been packed lately… With karate and helping out my sister at her job and lotsa other things. Also This chapter was a little rushed because of my schdule but it should be good if you spot anything that I should fix on it please tell me.

Anyway on with the reviews,

**Chibikilana:** Thanks! Jaderill tried to make it as funny as possible…

**E1pnvn: **Heh! Scandinavian right I gotcha…. Anyway thanks for the review! Also yes I do think Null needs a hug and he thinks so too. But he won't let me give him one. Strange…

**blondie91:** Thank you! Your reviews are always sooo nice!

**Dez384:** Thanks for the review! As to why she is afraid of owls…. You'll find out later but for now though blame it on Saria.

**HyperFoxChild: **Thanks for the review! That whole kk thing really sounded as if though you were hyper like you penname.

And finally...

**Draeden: **It's about time you got on fanfic... Anyway thanks for reviewing and read the other chappies.

As a final note "Jaderill" has finally gotten her story up! Yay! So if you like mine go ahead and try out hers. She'll appreciate the review her story is called "House of the Unwanted… It's a Zelda fic too. So please read! And Yayness! A new summary is put I'm experimenting with summaries so tell me if you like the new one or not.

Now on with the story!

_**Hyrule Market Town**_

Xinrie awoke. Her neck was stiff; her arm was red, swollen, and sore. Her clothes were ripped and muddy. She felt terrible. The worst part though was this annoying clinking sound that kept ringing in her ear. She looked up only to be struck by fear as the drawbridge was slowly lowering itself onto her head. She leapt forward plunging into the water and kicked off of the bottom of the moat just in time to see the drawbridge crash down onto the spot where she had slept.

"Why didn't they lower that thing last night?" Xinrie muttered to herself.

Xinrie climbed out of the moat, her clothes, once again, soaked. The only good thing that happened was that she was no longer muddy. She walked slowly across the drawbridge taking in every detail that she could. Her head was gawked upward as she walked under the arch. It was at least ten feet above her tiny four foot body.

Xinrie entered the market her jaw dropped as if though it was loose on its hinges. The market was huge! Buildings were lined up in rows upon rows. People gathered in crowds around stalls as peddlers called out their items. There were Hylians, Zoras and Gorons. Children and adults were running all over the place. There were Hyrulian guards posted at every corner of the city.

She gaped at the sight never before had she seen an adult or even a person above five feet. Xinrie began to feel like a tiny bug, she was so small compared to these people. She walked on keeping her head lowered but kept her eyes darting about to take in her surroundings. Her legs ached so much from last night's frantic running so she slouched down against the wall of a large building.

She must have been there for two hours until she felt a hand on her shoulder she looked up to see a woman smiling down at her. Her eyes were blue in color and her hair was a very pale color, almost white.

"Are you lost?" She asked. "Do you need help finding you parents?"

"Uhhh…." Xinrie had no idea what to say, she didn't even know where they were or if they were even alive. "I don't think I have parents…"

"Nonsense! Everyone has a parent, are you an orphan?"

"No, I'm a Kokiri. I think…"

"A Kokiri! My goodness there hasn't been a Kokiri in this town since young Link arrived. Do you have a place to stay dear?"

Xinrie shook her head. She had no idea who Link was but she was guessing it was the person Saria was always talking about.

"Then you can stay at my place! I have an extra room and my little girl would love to have a playmate tonight."

"Oh no, I couldn't barge in on you like that. I'm fine. Really." Xinrie was trying her hardest to produce a smile to back up what she said but it looked about as fake as her statement.

"I insist! I mean look at your arm oh and you're so wet! How did this happen to you!"

Xinrie looked down at herself. She was still soaked to the bone and the makeshift wrapping on her arms was now just hanging loosely to her side. She did look pathetic.

"Well the drawbridge didn't help."

The woman ignored her comment and then grabbed Xinrie by the arm and began leading her through several crowds and alleyways. Until she stopped at a wooden door that lead into a cozy house. A fire place was already burning and there was a sweet smell of freshly baked bread hovering in the air. The house was furnished with a table and several chairs along with a rug in the center. There were also two doors in the back that lead to hallways with bedrooms and baths.

"Come in. Come in." the woman said with a gesturing hand.

Xinrie took a couple of steps forward. Her eyes moved about the room slowly taking in every detail.

"Go ahead and sit down. My children are out playing right now but they should be home soon. Oh! And you must be starving! I'll get you some soup right away after we look at that arm of yours."

Xinrie sat down in the chair. She looked at this strange woman. She was garbed in a green and white dress and her air was put up in a messy bun. The woman always seemed to walk briskly as if she was in a hurry every second of the day. Her face along with her eyes always seemed to be smiling all the time. Xinrie smiled; she liked this woman.

"Okay, now let's have a look at that arm of yours. Oh dear it's a Stalchild scratch! You must have been out last night in that terrible storm! Well, lucky you! I just so happen to be the town healer." The woman exclaimed.

She drew Xinrie's arm closer. It was two times the size as the other and caked in dry blood and was already beginning to turn green with infection. "Oh my this is infected no doubt about that."

The woman took out some bandages and cream from a cabinet. She sat down next to Xinrie again, who was now making small puddles on the floor.

"By the way my name's Alaine." The woman, now known as Alaine, said while cleaning her wound with a wet rag and soap.

"I'm Xinrie."

"Xinrie, what a cute name! Well, it's nice to meet you Xinrie."

The woman rubbed cream on her wound and wrapped it up in a clean bandage. "There we go. Now let's get you some soup. I also insist that you stay with me for three days until that's healed. While I'm getting the soup ready you may wash up and get changed. Just don't get the bandages wet!"

"Um… Okay thank you ma'am." Xinrie replied, bowing her head.

"You're welcome! But, please call me Alaine. The bath is in the second door on the right at the end of the hallway."

Xinrie had finished washing up after an hour of scrubbing off all the grime that was stuck on her body. She came out in new Kokiri clothing feeling fully refreshed. Alaine already had four bowls of soup laid out on the table.

"Oh good your out, my you look much better!" Alaine exclaimed walking towards her "My children Aria and Renrick are in there rooms do you think you can go get them for me?"

"Umm..."

"Go on, don't be shy. They already know you're here."

"O… okay," Xinrie replied looking down. She walked down the hallway stopping at the last door on the right this was Renrick's room according to Alaine's instructions. She knocked on the door. It opened to reveal a boy the age of thirteen, his hair was cut short, with bangs hanging just above his eyes, and it was blond like his mothers. His eyes were large and round and bluish- green. He was pretty tan, and was very lean and tall.

He looked down at her and smiled. "You must be Xinrie. My names Renrick pleased to meet you!" He said extending a hand down towards her.

She shook it with a small smile. "Y...you're mother sent me to tell you it's time for dinner."

"Okay, then let's go get Aria."

They walked up across the hall and up a door to Aria's room. "You go ahead and knock." Renrick said.

Xinrie knocked on the door once, and when she went to knock on it a second the door swung open. A nine year-old girl stood there looking at Xinrie, who still had her fist up in the air about to knock. Her hair was longer than Xinrie's and was pulled into a ponytail. It was a darker blond than her mother's and brother's and her eyes were the same greenish blue as her brother's. She was also only an inch taller than Xinrie. "Hi! Are you Xinrie?"

"Uhhh yes," Xinrie replied.

Aria cocked her head to the side. "Okay! Hey let's be friends!"

"Um…sure. That was fast."

"Okay we can all be friends _after_ dinner." Renrick said.

They all walked to the table or at least two of them did Aria choose to skip the whole way. By the time they had gotten there; Alaine had already set bread drinks and a pie on the table.

"Oh good you're all here. Well go ahead and sit down and eat your food." Alaine chirped quite cheerfully.

The first half of the dinner was silent. Only the clicking of spoons against bowls and the sound of slurping soup could be heard. Xinrie felt extremely awkward sitting around a table with people she didn't even know that well.

"So Xinrie, tell me, what is Kokiri Forest like?" Arai asked her.

"Uhhh, big and green." Xinrie stated quite plainly.

"With detail. Go on." Alaine urged her.

Xinrie bowed her head for a moment and thought. "Well, everyone there is a child. And we lived in hollowed out trees. And everyone but me has a guardian fairy that looks after them and the Great Deku Tree watches after us as well. And there's this really big jerk who thinks he's the boss of all the Kokiri so I hit him a lot. But that's because he thinks I'm smaller than all the other Kokiri and that I don't have a fairy. Well, actually, that's true. But I hit 'im anyway. My best friends are Isra and Saria. Saria is really smart an' nice and she's got green hair and Isra reminds me a bit of Aria. And there's a stream an' a forest an' a temple an' the sky an' giant, talking, man-eating owls that sit just outside of the field and point little girls in random directions that get you lost in a rainstorm where you're chased up a tree by freaky skull things who can pick up their own heads even after you've knocked them off. That's about it though."

Everyone stared at her blankly for a moment, Aria's mouth dropped open some and her spoon fell into her soup. Renrick finally broke the silence. "It does talk."


	7. Rupees Thieves and Peddlers

Ya'll Lub me! I seriously never believed that this story would be as popular as it is! Three alerts five favorites 97 hits! And thirty reviews total! I mean this is great!

Anyway, Jaderill has something she'd like to say to all of those people who have read her story and are waiting for her next chapter. Here she is: Ahhhh! I can't believe that I haven't gotten the next chapter up yet. I'm sooooooooo sorry! I was actually drafted into a play. That's right, drafted. I was supposed to help with directing and costumes but all of a sudden I was a main character! And I've only been given three weeks to learn all of the lines. Not to mention I work at my school, so I'm pretty busy. But after the play I can start work on the next chapter. It's gonna be a good one. Well I'll give the keyboard back to my lil' sis.

Jaderill

Now it's time to thank the people that made me feel special! -

**chibikilana: **Heh! Depends on what age you think is officially old in my opinion it is 30. Anyway thanks for the review and yes little kids have always been cute!

**Jaderill: **Now I know you're new to fan-fic but you're not supposed to give me a list of chores in a fanfic review! I mean yea thanks for the review. And I didn't do the cat box on purpose so Ha!

**blondie91: **Awesome is the awesomist word in the most awesome awesomist world because awesome belongs to the most awesomey word in the awesome awesomity family ever! Thank you for the review!

**Talimthewindwaker: **Oooo! Do you play Talim on Soul Calibur II? That is Jaderill's favorite character. Anyway thank you for reviewing!

And finally **AncientDirgeDragon **x2 Yay!

**AncientDirgeDragon: **Thanks! And you're welcome! I'm glad I could cheer you up! Or err… at least Jaderill is. I am so glad you think my story is really that cool!

And now on with le story!

_**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**_

_**Rupees Thieves and Peddlers**_

Xinrie spent three days at Alaine's home. She played, and she laughed, she felt completely at home. Alaine treated her like her own child. These people were so kind to her and she wished she could stay forever. But, alas she knew she could not. She would have to embark upon her journey once more.

"Are you sure you won't stay?" Alaine asked.

"Yes I'm positive. I'm going to head over to Kakariko Village. I wanted to buy a bow there, I looked here but they were so expensive." Xinrie replied with a small smile on her face.

Alaine nodded then grabbed her in a giant bear hug. "You will always be welcome here. Whether you're sick or not. Our doors are always open!"

Despite the lack of oxygen, Xinrie hugged her back. She once again had to say goodbye to a friend.

"Hey, have fun. I heard that Kakariko is a great village." Renrick said giving her a hug.

"I hope you return soon! Okay! Then we could play again and again!" Aria said with a smile that was so huge it didn't fit her small face.

Xinrie waved goodbye to them for the last time and headed down the alley. Her pack was beginning to weigh down on her because of all the medical supplies and pieces of bread and the new water canteen that Alaine had insisted that she take or else she was not going to let her leave.

She left the bustling market and stepped out into the quite field. Xinrie spread her arms out to catch the wind. It felt so good to finally be out of the stuffy town. She scanned the horizon for the large peak of Death Mountain that would be her way to Kakariko. Death Mountain was dead east of Hyrule Market Town. She turned towards it and began to walk she took her time because Kakariko was only a half a mile away.

She arrived there just as the sun rose to high noon. She already had everything planned out. Saria had given her a fair supply of rupees which she would use to buy an inn room and the remaining to buy a bow. Renrick had said that the best way to kill a stalchild was to slash it with a sword but arrows worked nicely too.

Xinrie began to walk up the steps to Kakariko. Her head was looking down at the ground in deep thought. Suddenly her ears twitched slightly picking up the sound of running feet. She looked up just in time to see a boy slam into her sending her flying down the steps.

"Oh! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to. I mean I didn't see you there." The boy apologized.

"I...It's alright I'm okay." Xinrie said rubbing her head slightly.

"Okay that's good uh but I really have to go so see ya!"

Xinrie watched as the boy sped through the field and towards the market. _Ooookay. He was strange._ She stood up and continued up the steps this time with her eyes open and alert, not wanting to have another collision. She had made it. The village was beautiful nothing like the market. Everything was so peaceful. There were children running around playing games with each other and houses randomly placed here and there with shops lining the walls of the cliffs. Tendrils of smoke rose from the chimneys of the cozy houses. Ivy grew up the wooden sides of what was defiantly the largest house in the village. A windmill turned slowly in the background of the peaceful scene, adding to the serenity of the village.

A woman with red hair was smiling fondly at some very small cuckoo's that looked as if they could fit into one of Xinrie's small pockets. She seemed to not be doing anything in particular at the moment so Xinrie approached her with a small sweet smile on her face. "Excuse me," Xinrie said, "you wouldn't happen to know where I could find a shop that sells a bow and quiver, would you?"

"Why, yes. I do. There's a new shop that will sell you a bow that should fit someone your size. It's just across from the potion shop," she answered while pointing at a somewhat large brick building. Xinrie gave the woman her thanks and attempted to leave but was stopped short by the woman. "Do you know about pocket cuckoos little girl?"

"Uhhhhh…" The wisest thing Xinrie could have done was leave right away. But in an attempt to be polite, she stayed and was stuck listening to the red haired lady talk about the small feathered creatures for another half hour.

Xinrie managed to escape when a pale, creepy looking man asked her to come and look at his bird. She darted off towards the shop as soon as the woman had gone inside. The building was quite large on the inside. Shelves and crates lined the walls and edges of the wooden floor. A tall, long haired man stood behind the counter. He had large blue eyes and chestnut colored hair that was pulled into a ponytail. When Xinrie approached him he looked over his book at the red eyed girl.

"May I help you?" he asked in a bored voice.

"I'm looking for a bow and a quiver, do you have any?" The man turned around and grabbed a bow made of yew wood and leather quiver. Placing them on the counter, she opened a large leather bound book that was on the counter. He scanned the page before reading the price out to her.

"That'll be one hundred rupees for the bow and twenty for the quiver." Xinrie stood there for a moment. For some reason, his words didn't make a connection for a moment. One could almost hear a timer ticking away. And then the bell went off.

"H-h-how much!" she squeaked, "What if I give you half now and half later?" The man just shook his head with an uninterested look on his face. Her spirits plummeted as she realized that unless she came up with another sixty rupees she wouldn't be able to buy both. But at least she could buy the quiver. Xinrie's hand went for her wallet...and found nothing but her tunic. Xinrie looked up, her red eyes flashing as a low, demonic growl left her throat. "That boy."

She burst out the door at a full run towards the field. Her feet pounding on the ground as she put all her adrenaline forward. She looked up at the sun it was just past 2:00 plenty of time to get there before dark. She kept her eyes forward as the drawbridge came into view. Then it happened a faint melody was played of in the distance it almost sounded as if though it was an ocarina. Her foot was just about to touch the drawbridge when the sun plummeted west then disappeared in the horizon. The drawbridge suddenly lurched upward at a rapid pace smashing into Xinrie's chin on its way up. Making her fall flat on her back.

"WHAT!" Xinrie screamed while rubbing her now scraped chin. "That just ain't right."

She was still gawking at the now closed gate when a Stalchild appeared right behind. It cocked its hand to strike a deadly blow on Xinrie's cranium. She looked back just in time to see the thing put on a wicked smile as it brought it's hand down on her head. Xinrie ducked and using all the strength she had in her legs, sprung off of the ground and into the moat.

She kicked off the bottom of the moat and crawled back to the place where she had slept the last time this happened. The stalchildren though wouldn't leave her alone. Three of them had sat on the edge of the pool staring at her. Occasionally one of them would throw a piece of bone at her and the others would burst out into a laughing frenzy when she squeaked and ducked to avoid it. She at one point threw a rock at the thing's head, and sent it flying into another's head. Xinrie couldn't help but laugh at them as they argued over each others head, but eventually had to dive back into the water as they threw the head back at her. Xinrie couldn't get a lick of sleep that night because of this.

Xinrie looked up at the sky several hours had passed and the sun was just now peaking above the horizon. The stalchildren had already burrowed back into the ground leaving a mud caked Xinrie. CREAK! Xinrie's head shot up the drawbridge was dropping down on top of her. She dived down into the water and climbed up onto dry land. She shook her head trying to remember why the heck she had even run out of Kakariko Village. The memories of the boy pick pocketing her flooded back into her mind.

A few hours later…….

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST IT?" Xinrie screeched.

"I…I lost it, yeah." The boy from yesterday was pinned up against the wall staring down horrified at this eight year old muddy drenched girl with purple bags hanging under her eyes.

"I HAD SIXTY RUPEES! HOW IN DIN'S NAME CAN YOU LOSE SIXTY RUPEES!"

"W...well you see there was gambling in the back alleyway. And I could of sworn that a pair of threes would win me this thing a…a…and I sorta…"

Xinrie stared at him, her eye twitched.

"A pair of threes? You thought a pair of threes would win a card game?"

"Well…yeah."

Xinrie turned and began to walk away when she stopped and looked at the boy. "What's your name?"

"Jed…" Xinrie walked forward and with one quick thrust of her foot kicked him…right between the legs. Jed toppled over, whimpering in pain.

"I'm Xinrie," she spat before walking away.

Later that day Xinrie found herself standing on a soap box in the back alley way, with three people in front of her. "Yes! This twig is an actual twin that came from the Great Deku Tree himself! Let's start the bidding at twenty rupees. Do I hear twenty? Twenty anyone? Alright how about ten? Com'on! What's wrong with you people?"

A man looked at the twig and then at her. "What's a Deku Tree?"

Another man raised an eyebrow. "And why is it great?"

"Then how about this spoon?" She shouted as she pulled it out of her pack, "Yes, this wonderful spoon was touched by the hand of the Great Saria **and** was used by Isra the Brave to hit Mido, King of all that is Wrong and dork-like! I'll start the biding at twelve rupees." Two of the people blinked and walked away, but the third came up and held out his hand to inspect his spoon. He began bending it and then, it snapped. Xinrie's eyes grew in size by ten inches.

"Isn't very strong," the man said as he walked away, leaving the two ends of the spoon behind.

"Half a spoon…touched by Saria and used by….Oh forget it" Xinrie had spent hours sitting and all that she had earned was a rupee that some guy had thrown at her yelling that he felt sorry for her.

Xinrie soon found herself standing in front of a counter of an inn.

"Umm... Excuse me," Xinrie asked."

The man standing at the counter looked down. The only thing her could see were tin y hands and the top of Xinrie's nose and eyes. "Yea what is it."

"Uhh how much does it cost to stay here for one night?"

"20 rupees for a single bed room."

"What! Uhh I mean what if I paid you one rupee now and then gave you the other nineteen later." Xinrie said backing up her sentence with a huge smile. Needless to say she found herself standing outside within two seconds.

"I hate my life..."

Okay I am going to leave you there. I know this chapter wasn't a very good one but I had rushed to at least get it up. So please excuse me if it is a bad one.


	8. Hunting for Rupees

Hi guys yes I know I am taking forever to get my updates in! My life has been really busy. But I do have a good excuse for one thing New Harry Potter book! Plus I have had my karate belt test and my brain has been in a total rut for this story.

I am getting a little worried though cause I fear that this story is going to be so long that I might have to have a whole sequel to it to finish it up or give it a ridiculous amount of chapters, Can you tell me in your reviews guys if you want it to be sequeled or have a ton of chapters.

Yay five reviews this time. I like reviews. Ooo! I also accept anonymous reviews too!

Anyway on with the thanksies!

**Dez384: **Thanks for the review! Yea and as I was writing this I had had a bad day the day before so it let me feel better cause at least then I knew that I wasn't as bad as Xinrie.

**E1pnvn: **Yay! Your back! Did you have fun at the Galapagos? Lucky. I haven't even gone well to six flags or even out of the Midwest! Well once but I was a year old then.

**AncientDirgeDragon: **Thanks! I have made a famous quote! Whoopee!

**blondie91: **Yea that was Link playing the sun song! Poor Xinrie! She just isn't having a good time.

And finally,

**JairukazeShirokaze: **Yay! You're back! It is about time! Ooo! Hi jai!

Now on with the story.

_**Hunting for rupees.**_

Xinrie had spent the entire night in a soggy cardboard box. She was surprised that she hadn't gotten sick after spending days sleeping outside at night. She stood up and stretched out every muscle in her body in an attempt to get rid of the aches and pains she had. "I should of stayed with Aliane." Xinrie muttered under her breath as she walked past the inn she had been thrown out of.

She felt around her bag and grabbed a piece of slightly stale bread. Seeing as she had no other choice than to either starve or eat the stuff. She took a bite of it. Xinrie needed money somehow but she had no idea how to get it after all nobody in the Peddler stands were noticing an eight year old girl and her petty stand made out of a muddy blanket. She heaved a sigh. Cursing the day she left the forest.

A small bug began to crawl up her arm. She laughed as it tickled its way up to her shoulder. She picked it up and placed it in a bush.

"You're poor aren't you? Well I'm not cause I know how to get rupees!"

Xinrie's head shot in the direction of the voice. A tiny boy was standing there sucking on his thumb. "You do! Please tell me!"

"Alls ya gots ta do is look in the bushes in Hyrule Field."

Xinrie's eye twitched. She had walked or rather ran past those stupid bushes a hundred times. "That's it!"

"Ye-"

The boy didn't even have time to finish a word before Xinrie was gone.

"Wow what a fweak."

Xinrie's head poked out of a bush her entire face pants and hands were covered in dirt and grass stains. But Xinrie was still smiling triumphantly while holding a single blue rupee. "Hah! At this rate I'll have two hundred rupees in no time!" She had ten total.

Xinrie spent half of the day running throughout Hyrule field (Getting herself completely lost twice) digging through bushes and diving in the moat finding a red rupee worth twenty. By noon she had at least eighty-nine rupees. "My luck truly can change if I keep this up every day I will be rich! And with nothing in the daytime to stop me I won't have any problem buying a bow. Heck, I might even be able to buy a sword!" She spun around in a circle at this joyous thought.

Then something caught her eye. It looked like a giant flower and it was the most beautiful shade of orange. Xinrie's curious side took over as she began to walk towards it. "Oooo…pretty." Then all of a sudden it flew up in the air, and sprung gigantic blades of steel and spun them around like a helicopter. "Oh crap..." Was all Xinrie could say before the thing surged straight at her.

She bolted. Running as fast as her tiny feet could carry her. _Why me._

Xinrie looked back for only a split second to see that the flower thingy had suddenly sprouted what looked like mini flower thingies that, unfortunately for Xinrie, were faster than the larger one. "AHHH! It's gonna eat me!"

Xinrie sprinted past Lon lon ranch, running for all that she is worth. Where a boy garbed in entirerly green clothing sat next to a girl wearing casual ranch attire.

"So instead of waiting an entire day for the blacksmith I decided to play the Sun So-…. Hey! Look at that kid running across the field." The boy shouted, as he pointed toward the field, "She's fast…"

"Wow, I wonder what she's running from…Look! It's a peapod!" the girl replied, "You better shoot it down and save the poor child."

The boy grabbed a bow from his pack, and then notching an arrow took aim and fired at the peapod. He took out several more and shot the rest of the mini peapods except for one. "I think that should do it, I mean I am running out of arrows and it is only one peapod."

Xinrie looked back then began to slow down as she looked at the tiny peapod whizzing at her. She then began to laugh. These things don't look as though they could harm a fly, why they are such tiny little things. The peapod began to slow down too, looking at Xinrie laughing her heart out. Then it suddenly grew nearly ten times its size.

Xinrie squeaked, turned on the spot and burst into a full-fledged sprint. She turned her direction back towards Kakariko village in hope that she could find help or protection there. She was past the drawbridge and was just about to cross the stone bridge leading to the steps of Kakariko when suddenly a terrifying sound rang through the air. The drawbridge was slowly rising. Xinrie looked at the sky and gasped. The sun was merely a line on the horizon; she had absoubloutly no idea it was this late out.

Xinrie ran faster than she had ever run in her entire lifetime, looking back only once to see that the pea pod had dug itself back into the ground and the hand of a stalchild thrusting itself out of the ground. Xinrie looked forward again. She was already running up the first flight of steps. She jumped the steps two at a time. Xinrie had reached the second flight, and finally burst through the gates leading to Kakariko. In fear that the stalchildren could come through the protective gates, Xinrie ran up the other flight of steps that lead to the gigantic windmill. She looked back to see that none of the demon things had followed her and let out a sigh of relief.

Her lungs burned and her legs felt weak. And the aching pains of hunger weren't helping her. She leaned against the wall of the cliff. But, to her amazement she did not touch solid rock but fell through thin air.

She let out a scream as she hit the granite floor and began to slide headfirst down a long tunnel. If she hit the end of the tunnel in the position she was in now she could easily break her neck. She struggled to right her shelf into a feet first position, as the passageway scraped at her arms and elbows. But to her dismay the tunnel was far too small in width to even turn over in. She flung her arms upward to her head as she slammed into a wooden floor and somersaulted over and over until she careened into the other side and dropped into the floor below.

"Ouch!" Xinrie sat bolt up rubbing her head. She was in a giant tunnel with wood as its floor that looked to be hundreds of years old because of its decaying matter and several patches where it had been broken and replaced by newer wood scraps. The walls and roof of the tunnel were made out of brown marble and suspended from the roof were lanterns with no candle in it but a floating fire. Xinrie stared at the lanterns, how in the name of Din could fire float?

"Why the heck are we even in this tunnel system!" Xinrie's head shot up, a man's voice had spoken but it had come from underneath of Xinrie. She stood up in shock and stared at the floor.

"I mean this tunnel is a thousand years old or somethin'! No one travels underneath of here because it could _collapse _on them at any second... Hey are you even listening to me!" The man's voice continued to complain.

"OH shut up you wretched son of a dodongo! This is the quickest way to Shadowed Recron there is! And unless you want to be late for the market's opening and not get a stall then go ahead and take the main tunnel!" A woman's voice yelled quite angrily.

Xinrie back away. _I_s_ the floor taking!_ She stopped and looked back down at the floor, just as a giant cracking noise broke the eerie silence. She screamed as the decayed wood underneath her gave out. In complete desperation she tried to grab at the sides of the gigantic hole and hold on but only got herself a large sliver of wood in her finger as she fell face first into the floor below.

"Oh crap," Xinrie muttered as she slowly lifted her shelf up.

"See the roof is giving out already!" The man's voice complained.

"That's just the above tunnel! Of course it would give out!" the woman's screamed in frustration.

Xinrie looked around she had fallen through the top of a cart that contained nothing but fresh bread. Xinrie's stomach gave out a cry of hunger. She looked down then grabbed a piece of stale bread from her pack. She dropped it, and then shuddered as it made a large _thud_ when it hit the wood of the cart. She picked it back up then picked up another piece of bread. She inspected the stale loaf and then the soft one. She poked her head out of the covering of the cart. _No one in sight._ She quickly pulled her head back in then with a greedy smile traded the stale bread for the soft one and took a bite of the fresh bread.

Xinrie's mouth watered in sweet satisfaction as the bread's wonderful taste filled her mouth. It was the greatest tasting bread she had ever eaten. She looked back down at the piles of bread then grinned.

"Okay, no more! I'm starving! I want some bread." The man's voice had echoed throughout the tunnel. The cart's covering flung open to reveal a man the age of eighteen. His hair was a brilliant shade of white, and his scarlet eyes seemed to glow from beneath his bangs. "What the!" He looked down to see Xinrie sitting crosslegged with two loaves of bread in her hands. Her face was still stuffed full of food as she looked up at the man with a shocked expression on his face.

She swallowed the food and laughed nervously. "Hehe…umm hi, want some?"

The man grabbed her by the collar of her tunic then flung her onto the ground. "Hey Auna!" The man called out as he brought his boot down on the back of her head, pinning the small girl to the ground.

"Oh for Nayru's sake what is it now Jin?" Screamed the woman's voice Xinrie had heard from before. She looked up to see a woman walking towards her. Her hair was the same brilliant shade of silvery white as the other man's only her eyes were more burgundy than the man's. She looked young too, possibly only around twenty-five.

"I think we have a little thief." The man, known as Jin, replied as Auna walked up next to him. Five other voices echoed throughout the cavern just as he said thief. Xinrie looked up to see that the group had gotten larger and now formed a circle around her she scraped her head along the ground, surveying each of the five newcomers.

The first two people she saw were twins that seemed younger than her by about two years. Their hair was more of whitish blond than the others and there eyes were a deep crimson. They were almost identical and one was a girl with her hair in two long braids. The other was a boy with short hair and bangs that fell in his face and eyes.

Xinrie looked over at the man standing next to them who looked like he was twenty-two. His hair seemed far grayer than the twins and his eyes were fiery red. Resting on his right hip was a chain wrapped in a tight coil and it had a razor sharp scythe head attached to the end. His hair was in an unusual style too; He had it spiked up to the left, hanging over a metal headband that sloped down and covered his right eye.

Next to him was a girl who looked to be seventeen. Her eyes and hair were the same as his so Xinrie guessed that they were related. She too had a weapon with her; they were a pair of short swords resting in an X on her back. Her hair was done up in a pony tail and her hand had this strange imprint on the back. It looked like someone had branded it onto her skin due to the fact that the entire thing was made up of scar tissue.

Standing next to the woman was man that was huge! Not in a fat or round way but in an extremely tall way he looked almost like he was seven feet and his muscles were beyond scary. His hair was silvery white like the others and his eyes were a deep scarlet. All in all his entire apperance was extremely intimidating. His left eye had a deep scar running up a down it that looked like it had been the cause of his eye to go blind. He also looked far older than the other people somewhere around thirty-six.

Xinrie could also see that they all wore the same type of clothing style. Their shirts were white with the sleeves either in tact or ripped off, and the undershirt's sleeves were blue with bits of purple. The pants were like the under shirt's sleeves. On the white shirt there was a giant red eye with a single tear, and for those who did not wear the undershirt, the symbol was painted on some strip of cloth. Their boots were all brown and some had white cloth wrapped around the center of the foot and along the center. Once again the mysterious red eye appeared. The two with the weapons had cloaks on that were black and the man had a black mask covering his face from the nose down. All of them though had random bandages in some place either on fingers or on the forearm some were on wrists while others were on the legs. Every one of them were very skinny and fit as if though they had been traveling all their lives. And armed with daggers and bows, with quivers full of sharp arrows.

Xinrie looked up at them she felt like a puny ant as she sat there. All that she could let out was a tiny gulp, as they moved in closer. _I'm gonna die…_

_**UUUUUUUUUU**_

Okay I'm going to leave you off there also since I worked so hard on the people I just described and since they were not in the game I would like to say that **I own them! Plus I own Xinrie! I do not own the legend of Zelda though. I also own the story plot, minus the part about the triforce and the Zelda themes. **Also I would like to say this some people may have a hard time imagining what the twenty-two year old with the chain scythe looks like, so I will give an example. Okay has anyone heard of Naruto the manga series? Well for those of you have the guy looks a whole lot like Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke's teacher Master Kakashi. (He so cute!) Just letting you know that I will be writing the next chapter as soon as possible or at least sooner than this one. Okay that's all.

Also as a final thing Jaderill would like to say that the imprint on the girl's hand was her idea do not steal plus the story behind it.


	9. Chimera

I did it I did it I did it! I actually found the time to update! Plus I conquered my writers block. You have no idea how hard it was to sit down and write this. Anyway I would like to think all my faithful reviewers and readers for not killing me and being veerrry patient with me I hope you enjoy this chappie.

Anyway, on with the reviews.

_Last chapter_

**Wingedliver: **I reviewed your story happy now? Just quit badgering me okay. But thanks anyway.

**Dez384: ** Thanks for the review and don't worry Xinrie's luck is about to change.

**JairukazeShirokaze: **Thanks for the review! Tell Jai I said hi oh and I didn't put in the part about him being cute that was actually Jaderill. (I am using her fan-fic name but Jaderill is my older sister)

**blondie91: **Sorry for the wait I wish I had a freer schedule to update more. Anyway thanks.

**AncientDirgeDragon: **Naw I wouldn't kill off Xinrie yet. Heh but who knows I did say yet… :) Anyway thank you for the nice little review.

**Alec Conner: **Yay a new reviewer! That makes me very very happy! The new book I am reading… well several actually one is Eldest another is a book on Trebuchets. For me science fair Heh I can't wait till I make one! :)

_Note chapter_

**Da marshmallow: **Yayness a new reviewer and your blondies sister too! That makes it like ten times better. Thank you for reviewing! I like reviews a lot. And thanks for the comments.

**blondie91: **Yes she did bug me. And yes I have been bugging her a lot about her fanfic she claims she just doesn't have the time right now but now I got dirt cause I was able to update my fanfic :)

**Dez384:** Oops I completely forgot about the note rule thanks for telling me now I will do full chappies and no notes.

**Goddie Hudson: **Yay you are finally on! I guess Jaderill (older sister) finally nagged you enough! Thanks for reading and reviewing though!

Chimera 

"Jin get your foot off of the poor thing!" Auna commanded. The white haired man looked up at her almost disappointed.

"You're too soft, ya' know that?" he whined. Despite his reluctance he raised his foot and released Xinrie from his hold. Xinrie's back shivered with relief as the boot's pressure left. She was just about to push herself up when the man with the mask grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and dumped her into a sitting position on the cart. She was now facing all seven straight in the face. She couldn't stop shaking now.

Fear took over once again. None of these people seemed too happy with her right now, not even the one who had told Jin to take his foot off. It was the strangest thing, her mind kept on telling her to run but her legs refused to obey. Adrenalin surged through her veins causing an unpleasant tingling feeling in her limbs. Now more than ever she wished that she was back in the forest.

"I hate thieves," one of the twins spat. Xinrie suddenly remembered the feeling that she got when the boy had taken her rupees. Feeling ashamed of herself, it became nearly impossible for her to look any of them in the face. And it was at that moment her shoes became fascinating.

But before she could even begin counting the number of creases in her boots Auna grabbed her face and turned it upward. Her wine red eyes bore into Xinrie's scarlet ones. She didn't like the feeling this woman gave her when she did that. It was like she was searching her soul for something. Picking up a strand of her light brown hair she started to eye her Kokiri garb. "What are you?" she whispered, more to herself than to Xinrie.

After a moment the woman spoke. "Kain would you please get me Haiku's music box?" The twin with the two braids seemed like she was about to protest, but bit her lip when Auna shot her a glare.

Kain dug through a chest that sat in another cart until he came across a small, hand carved wooden box. Auna inspected the box for a moment. After opening and closing the lid she turned her attention towards Xinrie.

"You, girl," she said with a firm voice, "Look in this box for me." Xinrie jumped at her sharp command and took the box from her hands. This woman could be absolutely terrifying. Xinrie examined the outside of the box, turning it over in her hands. It seemed strangely light to her. She couldn't imagine anything actually being inside of it. And yet, she felt compelled not to open it. She had learned in the past couple of weeks that not everything is what it seems, such as the pretty flower, i.e. the peahat.

She was about to hold it to her ear and shake it when Auna's voice rang out. "Now!"

"Yes ma'am," she squeaked. Xinrie braced herself for anything that might come out of the box. Slowly, she opened the lid, half expecting it to bite her hand off or send a giant spider leaping out onto her head. Or even worse, an owl.

But instead, she was met with the pleasant sound of music. A small fairy like creature rose out of the box and began to dance around. She twirled from one end of the box to the other, her beautiful white hair flowing with her movements. Her eyes were such a beautiful color, both a shimmering cerulean blue. They reminded Xinrie of her past. She had always wanted eyes like that. Growing up she had felt like a piece of garnet among a sea of emeralds and sapphires. She could often remember Mido's taunts and jests. Her lack of a fairy and strange appearance had often been a source of grief for her.

Soon, the fairy's dance ended and she descended back into the box with the dying of the song. Xinrie closed the box and held it out for Auna to take. Her look showed that she was unsure of the music box's purpose. The woman walked forward and took it from Xinrie's hands. "Not much to see, huh?" Auna asked.

"No, it was…nice. It reminds me of a present that a friend gave me once."

Auna raised an eyebrow. "Really, you mean that you saw what was inside?" Xinrie simply nodded her reply. After all, what had this woman expected her to see? "Where was this friend from?"

"She's one of my friends from the forest."

"You mean the Kadrokin forest?"

"The Kadro whota watta?"

"Oh I'm sorry I forgot that it's not called that anymore. I mean the Kokiri Forest."

"Yeah…that's where I…used to live." Xinrie said, her heart falling even further.

"Then that means you're a forest child?"

"Ye – I mean…no." It was at this point that Xinrie's heart hit rock bottom.

"Is that really your answer?" Auna questioned. Her tone sounded as though she was just asking, but her eyes said otherwise.

Quickly, Xinrie began to tell her tale. "I'm not sure where I was born, or who my parents were, but the forest is where I grew up. So even though it's not my home, it still is…if that makes any sense."

"Hmm. Tell me more."

It appeared at this point that Auna wasn't going to kill her or anything like that, but it still felt strange to talk to a complete stranger about her past, especially when her emotions were so tightly woven into it, like treads in a tapestry.

Xinrie simply bit the bottom of her lip shook her head. Auna gave Xinrie a disapproving stare and sighed, "Well, if you're not going to tell me about the forest, then at least tell me where you live now."

The small girl froze up. What should she say? She didn't live anywhere. In fact, the closest place she'd had to a home since she had left was Alaine's, but it's not like she could say she lived there. These people might demand that Alaine pay them back for their lost bread. Xinrie felt she was running out of time to answer. Thinking quickly, she spat out the first place she could think of after Alaine's house.

"The Windmill!"

"The Windmill?" Auna repeated, sounding completely unconvinced.

"Yeah, the Windmill. I help the guy who lives there by…ya' know, uh, doing windmill stuff." Xinrie turned her head so Auna couldn't see her mouthing the answer that had just leaped from her mouth. _Who in Hyrule is going to buy that?_

Jin looked at Auna. "Okay, I buy it."

_Apparently Jin._

Kain nodded in agreement. "That would explain why she was hanging out above this tunnel. We should talk to Underground Kakariko about putting some kind of extra supports in here."

Auna obviously didn't agree but went along with it anyway. "We'll pass by the Windmill again in about three months. Try to earn enough money by then to pay us back, or I swear by Din, I'll let Jin have his way with you." Jin cracked his knuckles in reply. "If you follow the tunnel in that direction," Auna continued, "you'll find a an opening that will take you out. But don't try to go down any other tunnels on the way; you'll just get hopelessly lost."

"And die of starvation," Haiku added.

Xinrie was in just about as much shock as Jin. They were letting her go? Maybe this was a fair trade off for the deplorably bad luck that had been plaguing her since she left the forest.

"But, Auna how do you know she's not going to run away?" he asked.

"We'll hunt her down if she does. I have a few friends who work in…intelligence. They'd find her if I asked them to." Xinrie didn't doubt this. The group parted some and Xinrie got up to walk away. She didn't get very far away from them before the woman stopped her again. "Oh, and by the way, if you tell anyone about this tunnel, or us for that matter, I'll have my intelligence silence your tongue by any means necessary."

Xinrie squeaked, nodded, and then started her quick walk down the tunnel. After she was out of sight, the woman with the swords on her back looked at the leader. "Was it really wise to send her off by herself? She might accidentally fall into one of the traps masked with illusion."

"I doubt," she replied. Turning the music box over in her hands, Auna stared at the wooded carvings. "She could see the inside of the music box. You know what that means Kladi?"

The girl thought it over for a moment then tilted her head to the side, like she did every time she was confused. "But how?"

"I don't know. But for some reason that girl has the eyes of a Shiekah."

8080808008080808080808080808080808080808080808080808080808080808

Okay I'm going to leave you off there. My goal was to at least get something in. The hits from Jaderill and the nagging feeling in me to update are now gone at least. I will not be able to update again until sometime after March, You see my science fair project has made it to Regionals and I have to prep it up until hen, so once again please excuse the lack of updates but once my schedule is freer I will update more.

D.E.W


	10. Sheikah

Otays! So with Jaderill's wonderful help I was finally able to update! Don't you people love me! Okay so Yea it was late! But I had Finals and Karate exams and Volunteer work and a whole lot of other junk. But that doesn't matter anymore Cause now its summer! And that means a whole lot more needed updates!

So I only got two reviews but that understandable considering the fact that I never really updated during the school year. But I'd like to thank **Da Marshmallow ** and **AncientDirgeDragon **for their wonderful reviews! But without any further ado here is Xinrie!

**Fork in the Road:**

**Memory Lane and Future **

_**Part 1**_

It is common knowledge to most of Hyrule's inhabitants that the Shiekah are a dead race. It is uncommon knowledge to most of Hyrule's inhabitants that they are wrong. The truth is that, while still small in numbers, the Shiekah are thriving. They are the Royal family's secret weapons, called out in times of war to snatch victory from the jaws of the enemy. After the fighting is over, they disappear from the villages and fields of Hyrule as if they had never been there. They keep from being seen by living in secluded villages hidden in the mountains just beyond Kakariko and traveling in underground tunnels.

Yet, despite their being hidden by illusions there will be the occasional finding. But that only happens when some idiot has no idea where they're going and stumbles past all of the gates that were set up to keep people out.

This is how Xinrie found the Shiekah. And this is how the course of her pathetic life was changed.

It had been three weeks since Xinrie had encountered the Shiekah troop inside the tunnel. And only one week since Jin had stopped complaining about letting her go. While the troop had had their set backs, they had managed to make it to the festival on time. Auna had thought for a long time that the trip wasn't worth the effort. They hadn't been for nearly three years and the troop had gained two small, orphaned children since that time. But despite the whining, the complaining and the practical jokes everything had gone well. They had earned enough money by selling their special skills and talents to get them through the year.

But at the rate the others were spending their money, Auna was starting to have her doubts. Jin and Kain were once again celebrating by buying everyone drinks at the local inn.

"Come on," Jin whined to Auna, "You know you want another drink."

"As the leader of this troop I need to have a clear head at all times, Jin. You know that."

"So that means you can't have even a little bit of fun? Come on you know you want it!"

"No, I don't. In fact it's too stuffy in here. I'm going to take a quick walk. Kladi, will you look after the twins while I'm gone?"

The young Shiekah girl with the double swords looked up. "Sure boss, no problem."

Auna rose from her seat and walked towards the door. For a second she stopped and thought about whom she was leaving in charge of the money. "Kladi, take the money from Jin." The last thing she heard was Jin complaining that he was twice as responsible as anyone in the group.

The cold night air nipped at Auna's skin. Shivering, she pulled her coat around her shoulders. Autumn was in full swing at this point and each night seemed colder than the last. A cold drizzle began to fall, wetting the dirt roads of the town. Auna always thought of the twins on nights like this. She couldn't help but wonder what would have happened to them had she not been there to help them after their parents' death.

Soon she found herself thinking of the small girl she had run into in the tunnels. Jin may have brought her story about living at the windmill but she didn't. She wondered if she had found a place to stay.

If the child had any brains she'd have returned to the forest by now. We could never find her there so she wouldn't have to pay us ba-

Thud. Auna raised her head up, cursing. As luck would have it, she had managed to trip face first into a mud puddle. Turning over Auna saw the culprit. Someone had left sack full what looked like potatoes in the middle of the road.

"Idiots!" Auna spat as she kicked the bag. But something was wrong. The bag didn't feel as light as it should have. And it squeaked. Bending down, Auna untied the top of the sack and looked inside. "Aw Hell."

Huddled in the bottom of the sack was a beaten, bruised and unconscious Xinrie.

When Xinrie awoke the first thing she noticed was that her head hurt. A lot. Slowly turning her head, the red-eyed girl took in her surroundings. She was vaguely aware that they did not match her life for the past few weeks. There was what looked like a bedpost to either side of her as well as a door on the opposite wall. Her hands felt around her sides, where she discovered that she was actually in a bed. A real bed! Suddenly she remembered everything that had happened to her since she had encountered the Shiekah.

I shouldn't be in a bed…I should be in a potato sack or something like that… 

"Hey Auna! The little thieving half-breed's awake!"

Xinrie's eyes widened in shock. At the foot of her bed was the small Shiekah girl with the two braids, as well as the girl with the double swords. The door creaked open and Auna walked into the room, her large curved blade resting on her hip.

"It's about time," she sighed, "I've never seen anyone who could sleep as much as you before. We were about to get a –"

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Xinrie leaped out of the bed and onto one of the bedposts, her arms and legs wrapping around the top and latching together. "The demon red-eyed people have found me and now they're gonna' kill me!"

All three stared at her in shock. Never before had they seen someone go from half asleep and dead to awake and in panic mode in such a short period of time.

"You do realize you're injured," The woman with the twin blades said.

"Eeep!" Xinrie grabbed her ribs and doubled over. "Crap…that hurts…"

The Shiekah began to close in on Xinrie, the two oldest reaching out to grab her. "No! Don't touch me!" Xinrie shouted. Without even realizing it she curled her hand into a tiny fist and punched. She felt it connect with something hard. When she opened her eyes she saw the double blade woman touching her cheek.

"Hey," she said turning to Auna, "She's not half bad." Xinrie sat there, unable to comprehend what had just happened. This girl should be mad at her. After all, she had just punched her in the face, but instead she sounded happy, impressed even.

Auna turned her head and looked at the girl's cheek. "You think so Kladi?"

Kladi nodded. "Yep, she hits almost as good as I did at her age."

Auna thought for a few moments, then reached out and grabbed hold of Xinrie's collar, lifting her up and dumping her back onto the bed. "Kladi, you and Haiku go tell the others that we're pulling out of here in two hours so they better get ready."

After the other two had left Auna turned her attention back to Xinrie. "So," she began, "what did you do?" She would be asking that question for the rest of her life.

Xinrie went back into panic mode again. "Nothin'Iswear!Itwastheboyswiththatstupidstickandthedeafpotatoguywiththestupidsackandthatdemoncatwiththewaterbarrelpleasedon'tkillmeeeeeeeee!"

"I…wasn't going to kill you."

Xinrie peeked out from behind the pillow she was hiding behind. "Ya' weren't?"

"No, I was just going to ask you what you did to get yourself into that position."

"Are you talking about the potato sack thing?" Xinrie asked as she plopped down on the bed once again.

"Sure," Auna replied, "And if you tell me I won't charge you for all the bandages we had to waste fixing you up."

For the first time that day Xinrie noticed that she was in fact wearing several bandages on her arms and legs as well as a giant one on her forehead. "Oh, um…sure." Auna sat at the end of her bed and gave the sign that she was ready.

"Well," Xinrie began, "I lied…before…when I said that I understood how to get back out of the tunnel."

"I figured as much."

"Yeah, so I took a different path and when I got out I was completely lost and there were a bunch of other people with hair like yours and they all had really weird clothing so I sorta stood out. But anyway I knew that if I didn't earn the money to pay you back your friends in 'intelligence' were going to hunt me down and torture me with drops of water and stretching me out until my little legs got way longer and broke but that might be kind of good because then I'd be taller than Mido and he couldn't make fun of me anymore for being a faireless freak with red eyes but you probably don't…care about that…. so anyway I started to earn the money back." Xinrie stopped to take her first breath at this point.

"And then there were these boys who accused me of being a Hylian spy when I offered to sell them my boots for five rupees. So they started to beat me with stick and I ran away, and kinda got just a little really lost. So I walked on this dirt road but I got hungry and I saw this cart with an apple in it but it happened to belong to one of those boys and he hit me with rock and I hit him back with my boot. And then I ran away again and soon I was really lost again but then saw an Owl and it was gonna eat me so I kept running." Second breath.

"So after that I went to another town and I told this one boy that he had a really funny haircut but that's when I found out he was actually a girl and her big brother had a bunch of friends who tied me up and sold me to this one guy for twenty rupees and they threw me in the back of this cart but then the guy got sort of drunk and he crashed the cart into a ditch so I hopped away 'cause I was still tied up. But I got out by rubbing the rope up against a rock for three hours. But then it started to rain." Third breath.

"After that I started hunting for money again but I had a lot of trouble getting it so I applied for a job and the guy at the counter said that I should expect a big job for someone who's more talented than me. So I got all depressed and ate all of the free samples that this one woman was giving out at this bakery and she got mad told me to leave. So Then I started looking for some way to get food without spending money or stealing free samples." Fourth breath.

"Anyway, I ended up running into these kids who didn't like me 'cause my hair was brown and they called me a half-breed thingy and so I ran away from them but they were way faster and they caught me and beat me up and put me in a sack and gave me to this guy with potatoes. And I guess he gets a lot of sacks that are really heavy 'cause he didn't notice that I was in there. He must also get a lot of sacks that scream and yell at him too 'cause he really wasn't paying attention to me." Fifth breath.

"And then he hit a bump and I fell off the cart and I really got hurt but I had to get up and move on but this cat started to mew when I got near it because I guess it's never really seen a potato sack hop on its own and this girl screamed something about a demon potato sack and beat me with a stick…again…and then they ran off and I slipped because it had started to rain and then I passed out. And when I woke up you guys were here and you scared me and then you asked me to explain how I got here and I started to tell you my story and I finished and now I'm here!"

For a moment Auna just sat there, her mouth hanging open. After a few moments she finally spoke. "What?"

"Well," Xinrie said as she started to play with the corner of the pillow, "I had a really rough time and now I have no idea where I am." Suddenly her mood shifted from slightly depressed to happy. "But guess what! Even with all of those set backs I still earned all of the money!" Xinrie dove for the bag on the side of her belt and started to untie it. "It was really hard because all of these people told me that the stuff I was selling was junk but one guy took my sock for three rupees. And there was this locksmith who wouldn't open the chest I found unless I gave him half of what was in there and when he did there were only twenty rupees and he gave me five. I really don't see how that works. But anyway it's all here so now your friends don't have to kill me or the nice healer people back in Castle Town!"

Xinrie thrust her hands out, the sack held firmly between her fingers and a proud look on her face. Auna looked at her hands for a second. "Umm…little girl…sweetie, the sack's empty, but it does have a hole in the bottom."

Xinrie's face shifted into a blank, uncomprehending smile and a small pathetic squeak accompanied it. The bag fell from her hands and her arms dropped back to her side. "That's it, I'm gonna go throw myself off a cliff," She whimpered as she hopped from the bed.

Auna sighed and stopped her. "I wouldn't do that just yet, umm…what is your name?"

"Xinrie," She answered, her eyes staring at the floor.

"Right, Xinrie. We still have another hour before I have to start getting ready to leave. I'd love to hear about where you're from."

Xinrie looked back at her. "Why?"

"I haven't really been there since I was a little girl. Has it changed much?"

"I guess…but still, why would you want to hear about it?"

"Well," Auna said after a few moments, "I just think that it's probably changed a lot. When I was young it was a beautiful place with lots of flowers. I imagine it had to be pretty awful for you to have just left without any place to go."

"I didn't leave because I wanted to!" Xinrie shouted as she turned around, "Stupid Bark-For-Brains told me I had to 'cause I wasn't a forest kid. It was nice for him to wait eight years to tell me. Now I have to travel to some stupid desert! I don't want to but there's nowhere else I can go!"

Auna looked at Xinrie for a moment, trying to take in everything about her. Here she was, some small, brown haired, red-eyed girl who had no home and no family but was still willing to walk across Hyrule to find some place she can call home.

Then, suddenly, Auna began to laugh.

"It's not funny!" Xinrie yelled.

"You're right," Auna said once she was done, "You can tell me about your home later then. We have to get ready to leave soon."

Xinrie cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean 'we'?"

Auna stood up and smiled at her. "I mean we – as in you, me and the rest of the troop – have to make it to the next town by tomorrow morning, or we're going to miss the sale they're having, and if that happens we won't be able to buy enough food to support an extra member."

"What extra member…?" Xinrie asked.

"You," Auna stated simply as she walked towards the door. "Sort of strange really. We've never had someone who wasn't a full-blooded Shiekah in the group before. You should be quite interesting."

To be Continued…..


	11. Jin the Jerk

_Please read this: _Alright yes it's summer and yes I know this update took forever but the problem is my computer has been swamped with viruses lately and now runs incredibly slow. So updates may take just a little longer than usual. Also Jaderill and I have decided to make this a duo fanfic! (Because she is a much better writer and editor than I am and I can't seem to focus lately) Which means (this should make you happy) more updates over the school year and we will also change some chapter names and be re writing the entire prologue and some of the beginning chapters so please check frequently for those. The re writing of these chapters though might make new chapters come in a bit late but don't worry you will appreciate this. Jaderill might also respond to some of your reviews as well and I'd like to apologize to those of you who had a hard time reviewing that was because I deleted an authors note but that should all be cleared up by now Anyway thanks for your patience and now on with the reviews!

_**Da marshmallow: **_You found it funny? That's great! I kept re-writing that chapter over and over again cause I just couldn't seem to get it to be funny! I'm glad you liked it and thanks for your review!

_**blondie91: **_Jaderill was the one who suggested the free samples thing I thought that part was hilarious too so I put it in P. Thanks for the review. Yay for summer boo to the heat.

_**Dark heart: **_A new reviewer! Oooo! Now D.E.W. is very happy she hasn't gotten a new reviewer in a long time! Thanks for the review!

_**Fork in the road:**_

_**Memory Lane**_

_**and Future**_

_**Part 2**_

Auna looked down at Xinrie's stunned face as she stood in the doorway. "Well, are you coming or not?" Xinrie simply nodded and followed the troop leader into the hallway.

Xinrie was, to say the least, confused. Somebody other than the Healer in

Castle Town was accepting her? And it was a group of these white-haired, bandage-wearing people no less. Thus far, they had done nothing but threaten her. None of this was making any sense to her.

Auna led Xinrie past several hallways and eventually into a large, spacious den.

It was full of more white-haired people who were absorbed in their own business of ordering drinks, warming up by the fire and telling stories. Xinrie figured that her brown hair wouldn't distract anyone and she could slip out with Auna unnoticed. (She had become quite accustomed by now to hiding from the "white-haired freaks" purely out of fear that they would beat her with a stick again.) Xinrie stepped into the den; almost instantaneously everyone stopped what they were doing and stared straight at her and Auna. She shoved Isra's hat further down her head and attempted to hide her brown hair. But even if she did that she wouldn't be able to do anything about her strange attire. Quickening her pace, Xinrie walked behind Auna until they were out of the Inn.

Xinrie stepped out and sighed in relief. Being different was hard enough without all these bandaged people gawking at her. But as bad as the inn was, she almost instantly wished she were back inside. Last night's rain had brought the cold season with it. Wind blew past her bare arms, causing her to shiver uncontrollably. She had never really experienced cold like this. Back in the forest, the temperature would drop and sometimes it would even snow, but the trees would always block the wind.

Xinrie mentally kicked herself for not bringing her coat with her when she had left the forest. But she had never expected to be gone this long. After all, it was only the end of summer when she had started her journey. And besides, she was going to a desert...

Looking up, Xinrie saw that Auna was turning her head, as though she were looking for something. Xinrie couldn't get how this woman could stand in this weather without even the slightest hint of discomfort; her coat alone shouldn't have been enough. Xinrie felt small when she was next to this woman (well, smaller than usual). She had never been next to someone who commanded such a strong aura. Even the Deku Tree didn't measure up to her, and he was a freaking tree!

Suddenly, Auna's eyes caught sight of what she was looking for. Amidst a group of carts was one that was being loaded with crates. Auna strode over to the cart with Xinrie in tow. Someone, hidden behind the stack of crates in his hands, was walking towards an open cart. "How long until we can leave?" Auna inquired.

The person dumped the crates into the back of the cart. "If someone hadn't insisted that I reconfigure all of my equations to fit in eight people instead of just seven then we'd already be halfway to Roekin Pass!" Xinrie, who had been hiding behind Auna peeked out and spied an extremely unhappy Jin. "Why in Hyrule would I have to do a thing like that anyway? We only have seven members in our group and unless another little thief comes along we're going to have enough supplies to last us until spring."

Auna gazed back with her usual, serious stare. Reaching behind her she grabbed

Xinrie by the back of her collar and dragged her in front of Jin. "Oh look Jin, another little thief came along. Aren't you glad I had you redo your equations? Now we'll have just enough food to last us until spring."

Jin stared down at Xinrie. Grinning nervously, she raised a small hand up and waved. "Uhh…hi?"

"What in the name of all that is holy is that half-breed thing doing here?" Jin demanded.

"New member." Auna stated.

Jin stood there in silence for a few moments and then, exploded. "What do you mean new member! We're a Shiekah troop! We don't take in little thieving brats, especially not half-breeds! For the love of Farore, she hasn't even paid us back!"

"I had the money!" Xinrie yelled back, "I just…lost it."

"Well that doesn't help us then, does it?"

"Jin! Xinrie! Shut up." Both stopped their fighting and looked at Auna. She was scary when she yelled. "Xinrie's in the troop now, Jin. Deal with it."

Jin curled his hand into a fist but soon turned around and started loading another crate into the cart. "I still don't have to like her!" he yelled from behind the crate.

Looking to the side, Xinrie noticed that a piece of paper had fallen out of Jin's coat pocket. Still rubbing her arms to keep warm, she walked over and examined the note. "Miss Auna," Xinrie asked, "why does the fat head, I mean Jin keep a bunch of number sin his pocket?"

Jin turned around and snatched the paper from Xinrie. "Those, little brat, are my equations. Don't touch them."

"Jin's our stock keeper. He's in charge of all our equipment and funds." Auna said as she walked over to the cart and straightened the crate he had just put in.

"Yeah and when thieves come along and eat my stock I have to refigure everything." He spat at Xinrie.

"You mean all of those numbers were math?"

"Yes," he said as he opened the note to show her, "so don't touch anything or

I'll have to redo it! One mistake and the whole thing needs to be fixed!"

"You can do math?" Xinrie asked again as she looked at the paper more closely.

"I love math," he stated simply, "Always have. That's why I took this job."

"Why would anyone do something like that!" Xinrie asked, shocked. "Every time Saria tried to teach me math, I would sneak out of the house. I hated the stuff."

"And that's the difference between you and me. I have the brain to do this stuff and you don't. I bet you can't even add."

"I can too! Saria eventually found my hiding place and now I can add and subtract and multiply and even divide!"

"Jin, stop harassing her, we're going to start training and tutoring her soon."

"Well find someone else to teach her numbers, 'cause it ain't gonna be me."

As Jin and Auna started to argue, he dropped his paper again. Xinrie bent down and picked it up. Her fingers ached with cold as she held it. Just as she was thinking of going back inside the inn, she noticed something. "Jin…you made a mistake."

Jin whirled around to face her. "No I didn't! And stupid people shouldn't start accusing others of making mistakes!"

"But you did! Right up here at the top. The X means to multiply right? You added here. Three times four is twelve, not seven stupid."

Jin snatched the paper from her hand and looked at it. All of the frustration and pain that Xinrie had endured the past few months was worth it just to see the look on Jin's face. Auna leaned in and looked over his shoulder. "Well," she mused out loud, "that changes everything."

His arms fell to his side as he stared blankly into space. Auna reached out, removed his coat and threw it to Xinrie. "There ya' go kid."

"Hey!" Jin yelled as he snapped back to reality, "That's mine!"

"Yeah, but you have some numbers to redo, don't you? Why don't you fix that and go buy what we're missing. While you're at it, buy Xinrie a coat; you can have yours back afterwards."

Jin glared at Xinrie who stood there in his over-sized coat, grinning back up at him. "Fine!" he huffed as he gripped his calculations and stalked off.

"Don't mind him; he's always in a bad mood when he has to redo things. Come on, we have to talk to Kain and Kladi about getting you trained."

Xinrie trotted along Auna, he coat sleeves flopping dangerously close to her moving feet. "Who are they?" she inquired as they started to walk around the side of the inn.

"They're our weapons experts. I think Kladi might be a good teacher for you to start out with."

"What do you mean weapon's expert? Is Miss Kladi going to teach me to fight or something?"

"Yes," Auna stated simply, "Everyone in the group must learn how to fight. It's not uncommon for traveling Shiekah to be attacked by thieves or wolves. To be in this group you're going to have to face a lot of danger. You simply have to decide if you're up to it or not."

"Of course I am!" Xinrie said in a determined voice, "I've had to deal with those creepy skeleton people and the scary flying things that chase you across the field. As long as it's not an owl, I'm fine!"

"Why are you afraid of owls anyway?" Auna inquired.

For a moment Xinrie thought back to her childhood. "You know what? I don't know.

I've just always been afraid of them. Maybe it's because they can turn their heads all the way around. That's not normal or even cool…it's just creepy."

Auna merely stared at her for a few moments and then began walking again. "You're strange." Once they had rounded the side inn, Xinrie could see a small area covered by a thatched roof. Underneath of it were two people who were readying a pair of horses. Xinrie immediately recognized the girl with the long ponytail and the mark on her wrist as being Kladi. The other was the man whose hair brushed to the side and covered one of his eyes.

Kladi looked up and smiled. "There's our little half-breed!" she chirped, "Hey, Kain, hand me those swords I gave you earlier." Kain pulled a pair of swords from one of the large saddlebags and handed them to her. "So Halfy, have you ever used one of these things before?"

"I've fought with sticks before!" Xinrie beamed. She had always been one of the best stick fighters back home. She was certain that if she tried adjusting her stick-fighting stance just a bit, she'd be able to fight with these blades. She may already be a great fighter!

"Great! That won't help you here!"

Or not.

"Fighting with these is a lot different, Halfy. You're going to have to adjust to the weight and the movement of the blade. Here, you take these and Kain and I will see if we can whip up a pair of wooden training swords for you to practice with."

"Aren't those like sticks?"

"No."

"Darn."

Kladi smiled down at Xinrie. "You're kinda funny, ya' know that Halfy? Come on brother; let's go see what we can do about those training swords."

After Kain and Kladi left, Xinrie looked up at Auna. "Is Miss Kladi really Mr. Kain's sister, or is that just another weird nickname?"

Auna leaned up against one of the support beams. "Kain's her older brother. What do you mean by 'another' weird nickname?"

"She calls me Halfy," Xinrie said looking up at Auna, "Isn't that strange? I mean, I know I'm short and all, but wouldn't something like pipsqueak or shorty or Half-baked-red-eyed-farieless-freak-of-the-wood be better?"

Auna raised an eyebrow. "You had a very happy childhood, didn't you? Kladi calls you Halfy because it's short for half-breed."

"Oooohhhhh…. what's a half-breed?"

For a moment there was silence. Auna stared down at Xinrie, a little shocked and perplexed. "You mean you really don't know?"

Xinrie shook her head. "No, but everyone seems to be calling me that lately."

For a brief moment, Auna looked at Xinrie, first in little bits, then as a whole. "So, you wear forest clothing," she said, indicating to her boots, "you have the strangest shade of brown hair I've ever seen and you have…those eyes….Who were your parents?"

"I don't know," Xinrie answered. "I thought I was a forest child, but it turns out I'm not. And that stupid tree told me to go to the desert, but he forgot to tell me where it was."

"You mean the Wasteland; you're going to have to start calling things by our names. Did the tree not tell you what you were?"

"No…Now what's a half-breed?"

Auna sighed. "You're a half-breed. It means that your parents were from at least two different races. That's extremely uncommon in Hyrule. It's almost a taboo to marry outside your own race, and you're a particularly unusual case."

"Whoa! Back up! What do you mean my parents were different races? And how am I a special case?"

"Well," Auna continued, "You know there are six different races right? As a rule, most don't marry outside of their race. That means that your parents must have been very strange. But you…you're almost considered a crime."

"Are you talking about the rupees again?"

"No. You may not realize it, but do you remember that box I showed you? Anyone else could have looked inside it and seen nothing. But the fact that you saw that, as well as the other tunnel entrances proves that you're part Shiekah."

For a second Xinrie sat on the ground, trying to comprehend all of this. "So…my eyes are red like yours because I'm half Shiekah?"

"Yes and those eyes allow you to see through illusions. Hylians would need some type of special device, like a magic eyeglass, to see the past them."

Suddenly Xinrie jumped up, a huge smile on her face. "So my eyes being red aren't a bad thing? They're actually a really cool, special, secret truth-revealing thingy!" For the first time in her life, Mido seemed like a complete, blue-eyed loser. "But what do you mean by me being a crime?"

"Well, the reason you attract so much attention, aside from being a rare half-breed, is that by Shiekah law, we aren't supposed to have relationships outside the Shiekah race. For you to have been born, would mean that one of your parents went against their race. To be quite honest, I don't even know how you're still alive."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, until just five years ago, it was law that if a Shiekah married outside the race and had a half-breed child, that they and the half-breed they created would be killed. Xinrie, you should be dead."


	12. Information chapter!

_**Read please!**_

_Otay then! This chapter is going to act more like an information chapter! Well for starters Jaderill and I have been thinking really hard for the past couple of months on how we can alter the plot of Xinrie so that we can have it as our own work and not a fanfic and well, we did it! That's right after long hours of caffeinated nights we have created a new Xinrie story and here's some better news! I D.E.W. has been a good little doodad and been working on my drawing skills! So within a couple of months to a year Xinrie might be showing up as a web-comic! (Or I might get too lazy and make it into a novel . ). So keep on the lookout for that. Also, the title shall be changing around Thanksgiving time and we will have the full new chapter and prologue up by then. Keep in mind though that this is my first year of high school and I have already been assigned science fairs and 5 page research papers and what not. And this is Jaderill's senior year so that means tons of homework, college applications, etc. So with that in mind and the new updates we will leave you off with this preview chapter! Enjoy!_

Xinrie stared back at Auna, mouth agape. "Dead?" she squeaked, "but I shouldn't be dead, 'cause if I were dead then I'd be dead right? An' I'm not dead so I shouldn't be dead 'cause I'm here and if I'm here then I'm alive, so I shouldn't be de-"

"Xinrie!" Auna yelled. The poor little thing had obviously gotten herself worked up over that last statement. "I know you're not dead. What I mean is that our law would have had you killed. But for some reason you seem to have found a way to avoid that rule."

"Yeah, Saria always said that I had an unnatural gift for finding loop holes. But I still don't get it; why would someone want to kill me? And what kind of jerk (aside for Jin) would want to kill off a half-breed?"

"That law wasn't made just to be mean to Shiekah half-breeds," Auna explained, "It was created to try and preserve our race's unique ability. If our rare gift were to drift to the outside, then our way of life would be jeopardized. Anyone who wanted to could attack us once they knew the entrances."

Xinrie thought over every detail trying to piece together a broken past. There were so many questions that were still unanswered. Suddenly Auna interjected again. "Do you know if you were simply found in the woods, or if someone actually brought you there?"

"I think bark brains said I was found with some dead Gerudo lady, but she was all armed and stuff…"

"You must have a very high respect for the forest Guardian. Your rudeness aside, it's possible that you survived because that woman brought you there. I doubt she was your mother however. Our relations with the Gerudo have been…less than friendly for the past…fifty years. In fact, we keep getting orders to assassinate them. The mechanics especially."

Xinrie snapped her hand up into the air. "Question!"

"Yes Xinrie?"

"What's a machanica?"

"Mechanic, we'll talk about that later."


	13. Chase

Yes the title did change from The lost Triforce Shard to Chimera Chronicles we though it fit better.

Well, this would have been put up earlier but fanfic wouldn't let us for days….so her it is the new chapter! Its short I know but we were running out of time the next one will be longer. Plus the new prologue is going to be out around December 10th or so maybe the 15th.

**_Chase _**

Xinrie stared back at Auna, mouth agape. "Dead?" she squeaked, "but I shouldn't be dead, 'cause if I were dead then I'd be dead right? An' I'm not dead so I shouldn't be dead 'cause I'm here and if I'm here then I'm alive, so I shouldn't be de-"

"Xinrie!" Auna yelled. The poor little thing had obviously gotten herself worked up over that last statement. "I know you're not dead. What I mean is that our law would have had you killed. But for some reason you seem to have found a way to avoid that rule."

"Yeah, Saria always said that I had an unnatural gift for finding loop holes. But I still don't get it; why would someone want to kill me? And what kind of jerk (aside for Jin) would want to kill off a half-breed?"

"That law wasn't made just to be mean to Shiekah half-breeds," Auna explained, "It was created to try and preserve our race's unique ability. If our rare gift were to drift to the outside, then our way of life would be jeopardized. Anyone who wanted to could attack us once they knew the entrances."

Xinrie thought over every detail trying to piece together a broken past. There were so many questions that were still unanswered. Suddenly Auna interjected again. "Do you know if you were simply found in the woods, or if someone actually brought you there?"

"I think bark brains said I was found with some dead Gerudo lady, but she was all armed and stuff…"

"You must have a very high respect for the forest Guardian. Your rudeness aside, it's possible that you survived because that woman brought you there. I doubt she was your mother however. Our relations with the Gerudo have been…less than friendly for the past…fifty years. In fact, we keep getting orders to assassinate them. The mechanics especially."

Xinrie snapped her hand up into the air. "Question!"

"Yes Xinrie?"

"What's a machanica?"

"Mechanic, we'll talk about that later. I might as well introduce you to the twins and our healer while we wait for Jin. You ought to thank him for patching you up…"

Auna motioned for Xinrie to follow. Xinrie trailed behind Auna closely. She did not want to get lost in this place. As a matter of fact she felt like an ant. The carts they were passing were huge! And the people loading them were not very friendly looking either. Auna finally stopped in front of the marketplace.

"If I remember correctly he was over here somewhere restocking on medical supplies."

Auna reached back, grabbing the sleeve of Xinrie's coat she said, "Careful XinXin, I don't want you getting lost here."

"Yeah…" Xinrie said, her sentence trailing off as they passed a large fountain. Auna suddenly stopped, her head turning in the direction of two people arguing.

"Oh Nayru, Kladi's fighting with another salesmen. I'd better go break this up before someone gets arrested…again. Xinrie, go sit by the fountain and don't move." She started walking off towards the commotion, but quickly turned back around. "Better yet, don't speak to anyone…or look at them for that matter."

Seeing as how Jin had showed up and gotten involved in the argument, Xinrie felt that she might be there awhile so she chose to sit on the fountain edged rather than stand. She was still shocked at how fast things were moving. Just the other day she cold and starving inside a sack with no real idea what she was, and now she was a member of a Shiekah troop, with a vague idea as to where she had come from. As she sat there mulling this over in her mind, two small sets of hands rose up behind her, balancing a bucket of water atop their palms.

Xinrie found herself ripped from her thoughts as the bucket came pouring down onto her, icy cold water dripping down her back and neck. She launched from her sitting spot and found the twins behind her, laughing hysterically. Each one was using a scarf to cover their faces. "You two!" Xinrie screeched pointing at them.

"Oh crap," Haiku said as she jumped to her feet. "RUN EPIC!"

The brother and sister took off into the town, Xinrie at their heels. The twins dodged her attempts to grab them; jumping behind and around every cart they saw. All three had, within minutes worked themselves into a blind panic (or fury in Xinrie's case) and carelessly tore through the town. They left in their wake overturned stalls, stands, carts, the destruction of several tents and a very angry middle aged woman.

After they had realized the immense amount of trouble they had landed themselves into the twins slowed to a mere crawl. At last they collapsed, with Xinrie jogging in after them. "Apple Cider! How…do….do…you…k…keep runnin' after….all…this time?"

"'Cause," Xinrie said as she grabbed them by their scarves, "I grew up in a forest full of scary owls an' I've spent the last three months runnin' from skeleton thingies." Pulling them to their feet (sort of) she half drug, half walked them to a nearby well, took the bucket and paid them back in full. "Revenge really is a dish best served cold! Now I know you're Haiku, but I didn't catch your name."

"E…Epic," He chattered.

"Epic and Haiku. Do your parents like poetry or something?"

"Yeah," Haiku answered as she rung her braids out, "our mother and father were bards before they died."

"Oh, so you're orphans too huh?"

"Yeah but Auna takes care - wait, where are we?"

Xinrie and Epic glanced around. "Crap."

And Auna was thinking the same thing as she stood in front of the fountain with Kladi and Jin (who happened to be nursing a broken nose) staring at wet, but empty spot.


End file.
